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#NANOG84 Hackathon: No plan survives first contact with go-getter students ‍‍‍

Austin, 12–13 February 2022

So there I was, ready to do battle in my blue corner of the ring. Together with Anton Karneliuk from Karneliuk.com — author of pyGNMI among other things — we got started on a multi-vendor NAPALM driver using gNMI as a backend.

Working around the clock in our different time zones, in full blown follow-the-moon style, we managed to get a basic NAPALM get_facts working for both Arista cEOS and Nokia SR Linux, at some point late Saturday night.

Working together to build the Internet of tomorrow®

On Sunday a group of students from University of Colorado Boulder joined the party, and it quickly became apparent that our hacking plans would have to change. Because important as multi-vendor compatibility issues are, inter-generation transfer of knowledge is even more critical. We already barely understand the networks we have built today — how could we ever expect the next generation to keep things running if we don’t help them understand what we did?

Long story short: I teamed up with Dinesh Kumar Palanivelu and he ended up submitting his first Pull Request: A small step for a man, but a huge win for the NANOG community!

Thanks again Continue reading

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Rust Notes: Traits

A trait in Rust is similar to an interface in other languages. Traits define the required behaviour a type MUST implement to satisfy the trait (interface). // Structs that implement the `Greeter` trait. struct Person struct Dog } // Implement the `Greeter` trait for the...continue reading

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Rust Notes: Structs

A struct in Rust is used to encapsulate data. structs can have fields, associated functions and methods. // Instantiate an immutable struct. let sat = StuffAndThings Associated Function Associated functions are tied to an instance of a struct and are usually used as...continue reading

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Rust Notes: Traits

A trait in Rust is similar to an interface in other languages. Traits define the required behaviour a type MUST implement to satisfy the trait (interface). // Structs that implement the `Greeter` trait. struct Person struct Dog } // Implement the `Greeter` trait for the...continue reading

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Heavy Networking 618: Building Virtual Networks With Console Connect (Sponsored)

On today’s Heavy Networking episode we talk with sponsor Console Connect, which provides software-defined interconnections for enterprises and service providers. Guests Paul Gampe and Jay Turner dig into the Console Connect catalog, including Internet On-Demand, CloudRouter, and some of the interesting partner integrations that provide unique connectivity options.

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Heavy Networking 618: Building Virtual Networks With Console Connect (Sponsored)

On today’s Heavy Networking episode we talk with sponsor Console Connect, which provides software-defined interconnections for enterprises and service providers. Guests Paul Gampe and Jay Turner dig into the Console Connect catalog, including Internet On-Demand, CloudRouter, and some of the interesting partner integrations that provide unique connectivity options.

The post Heavy Networking 618: Building Virtual Networks With Console Connect (Sponsored) appeared first on Packet Pushers.

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Weekend Reads 021821

A new DeadBolt ransomware group is encrypting QNAP NAS devices worldwide using what they claim is a zero-day vulnerability in the device’s software.

A simulated phishing attack against more than 82,000 workers found that emails with a personal impact resulted in more clicks and that technical teams — such as IT workers and DevOps teams — clicked just as often and reported suspected phishing attacks less often compared with nontechnical teams

Google on Tuesday announced that it is abandoning its controversial plans for replacing third-party cookies in favor of a new Privacy Sandbox proposal called Topics, which categorizes users’ browsing habits into approximately 350 topics.

NFTs continue to explode in popularity, reaching $25 billion in sales in 2021 as reported by Reuters. NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are cryptoassets in which each token is unique.

The use in almost every aspect of human activity adds value to the need of UAS evolution, but it also increases security risks. Imagine what can happen when smart and cheap drones that anyone can easily purchase from a local hobby store become weapons at the hands of adversaries and cyber criminals.

Researchers have demonstrated a new type of fingerprinting technique that exploits a machine’s graphics Continue reading

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Intel’s custom Bitcoin processor could lead to chips for a supercomputing edge

Here’s one none of us saw coming: Intel is planning to launch a chip specifically designed for blockchain acceleration, including the mining Bitcoins, and much more. Intel has also announced the formation of a new custom compute group within its graphics business unit to develop the chip.In the blog post, Raja Koduri, senior vice president and general manager of the Accelerated Computing Systems and Graphics Group, announced the ASIC without using the Bonanza Mine name that would accelerate the algorithm specifically used in Bitcoin mining and blockchain in general.To read this article in full, please click here

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Intel’s custom Bitcoin processor could lead to chips for a supercomputing edge

Here’s one none of us saw coming: Intel is planning to launch a chip specifically designed for blockchain acceleration, including the mining Bitcoins, and much more. Intel has also announced the formation of a new custom compute group within its graphics business unit to develop the chip.In the blog post, Raja Koduri, senior vice president and general manager of the Accelerated Computing Systems and Graphics Group, announced the ASIC without using the Bonanza Mine name that would accelerate the algorithm specifically used in Bitcoin mining and blockchain in general.To read this article in full, please click here

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CDP Discovery Using Microsoft’s PKTMON

In this video, I review how to use Microsoft pktmon commands to figure out what port I am connected to without using Wireshark.

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Technical Debt or Underperforming Investment?

In this week’s issue of the Packet Pushers Human Infrastructure newsletter, there was an excellent blog post from Kam Lasater about how talking about technical debt makes us sound silly. I recommend you read the whole thing because he brings up some very valid points about how the way the other departments of the organization perceive our issues can vary. It also breaks down debt in a very simple format that takes it away from a negative connotation and shows how debt can be a leverage instrument.

To that end, I want to make a modest proposal to help the organization understand the challenges that IT faces with older systems and integration challenges. Except we need some new branding. So, I propose we start referring to technical debt as “underperforming technical investments”.

I’d Buy That For A Dollar

Technical debt is just a clever way to refer to the series of layered challenges we face from decisions that were made to accomplish tasks. It’s a burden we carry negatively throughout the execution of our job because it adds extra time to the process. We express it as debt because it’s a price that must be paid every time we need Continue reading

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Detecting Magecart-Style Attacks With Page Shield

During CIO week we announced the general availability of our client-side security product, Page Shield. Page Shield protects websites’ end users from client-side attacks that target vulnerable JavaScript dependencies in order to run malicious code in the victim’s browser. One of the biggest client-side threats is the exfiltration of sensitive user data to an attacker-controlled domain (known as a Magecart-style attack). This kind of attack has impacted large organizations like British Airways and Ticketmaster, resulting in substantial GDPR fines in both cases. Today we are sharing details of how we detect these types of attacks and how we’re going to be developing the product into the future.

How does a Magecart-style attack work?

Magecart-style attacks are generally quite simple, involving just two stages. First, an attacker finds a way to compromise one of the JavaScript files running on the victim’s website. The attacker then inserts malicious code which reads personally identifiable information (PII) being entered by the site’s users, and exfiltrates it to an attacker-controlled domain. This is illustrated in the diagram below.

Magecart-style attacks are of particular concern to online retailers with users entering credit card details on the checkout page. Forms for online banking are also high-value Continue reading

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How to use the expand command: 2-Minute Linux Tips

In this Linux tip, we’re going to look at the expand command. It's used to replace tabs in text files with space characters (sometimes referred to as "blanks").

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netsim-tools (now netlab) on the Modem Podcast

A few weeks ago, Nick Buraglio and Chris Cummings invited me for an hour-long chat about netlab on the Modem Podcast¹.

We talked about why one might want to use netlab instead of another lab orchestration solution and the high-level functionality offered by the tool. Nick particularly loved its IPAM features which got so extensive in the meantime that I had to write a full-blown addressing tutorial. But there’s so much more: you can also get a fully configured OSPFv2, OSPFv3, EIGRP, IS-IS, SRv6, or BGP lab built from more than a dozen different devices. In short (as Nick and Chris said): you can use netlab to make labbing less miserable.

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netsim-tools on the Modem Podcast

A few weeks ago, Nick Buraglio and Chris Cummings invited me for an hour-long chat about netsim-tools on the Modem Podcast.

We talked about why one might want to use netsim-tools instead of another lab orchestration solution and the high-level functionality offered by the tool. Nick particularly loved its IPAM features which got so extensive in the meantime that I had to write a full-blown addressing tutorial. But there’s so much more: you can also get a fully configured OSPFv2, OSPFv3, EIGRP, IS-IS, SRv6, or BGP lab built from more than a dozen different devices. In short (as Nick and Chris said): you can use netsim-tools to make labbing less miserable.

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Using the Linux host command to dig out DNS details

The host command on Linux systems can look up a variety of information available through the Domain Name System (DNS). It can find a host name if given an IP address or an IP address if given a host name plus a lot of other interesting details on systems and internet domains.The first query below tells us that the system associated with the address 192.168.0.18 is named “dragonfly”. The second tells us that 192.168.0.1 is the default router.$ host 192.168.0.18 18.0.168.192.in-addr.arpa domain name pointer dragonfly. $ host 192.168.0.1 1.0.168.192.in-addr.arpa domain name pointer router. To do the reverse, you can use commands like these:To read this article in full, please click here

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Using the Linux host command to dig out DNS details

The host command on Linux systems can look up a variety of information available through the Domain Name System (DNS). It can find a host name if given an IP address or an IP address if given a host name plus a lot of other interesting details on systems and internet domains.The first query below tells us that the system associated with the address 192.168.0.18 is named “dragonfly”. The second tells us that 192.168.0.1 is the default router.$ host 192.168.0.18 18.0.168.192.in-addr.arpa domain name pointer dragonfly. $ host 192.168.0.1 1.0.168.192.in-addr.arpa domain name pointer router. To do the reverse, you can use commands like these:To read this article in full, please click here

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Intel Unfolds Xeon Roadmap With More Cores, Denser Transistors

We were complaining a few weeks ago that Intel had not put out a server processor roadmap of any substance in a long time, and instead of just leaving it at that, we created our own Xeon SP roadmap based on rumors, speculation, hunches, and desires. …

Intel Unfolds Xeon Roadmap With More Cores, Denser Transistors was written by Timothy Prickett Morgan at The Next Platform.

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Calico Cloud: Active Build and Runtime Security for Cloud-Native Applications

Calico Cloud has just celebrated its 1-year anniversary! And what better way to celebrate than to launch new features and capabilities that help users address their most urgent cloud security needs.

Over the past year, the Tigera team has seen rapid adoption of Calico Cloud for security and observability of cloud-native applications. With this new release, Calico Cloud becomes the first in the industry to offer the most comprehensive active cloud-native application security that goes beyond detecting threats to limit exposure and automatically mitigate risks in real time.

With news of new zero-day threats emerging almost every day (e.g. Argo CD, Chrome Browser), the current security approach needs to evolve. We need active build, deploy, and runtime security, all together, instead of using a siloed approach. Security threats, vulnerabilities, and risks for all three areas should be addressed together, by the same security platform, rather than using multiple disjointed tools. Calico Cloud does just that!

With Calico Cloud, you can reduce your cloud-native application’s attack surface, harness machine learning to combat runtime security risks from known and unknown zero-day threats, enable continuous compliance, and prioritize and mitigate the risks from vulnerabilities and attacks.

Let’s take a look Continue reading

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Can Nvidia Be The Biggest Chip Maker In The Datacenter?

Next year, with the launch of the “Grace” Arm server processors, Nvidia will have all of the compute and networking bases it cares about in the datacenter covered, and it will be selling its technology at a rapid pace. …

Can Nvidia Be The Biggest Chip Maker In The Datacenter? was written by Timothy Prickett Morgan at The Next Platform.